The Freedom of Summer Memories
by Blooming Kuro Hana
Summary: During the summer after fifth year, Harry starts to have dreams and they end up becoming his freedom from the Dursleys and from being the Boy Who Lived.


_Summertime is the worst. I have to go home to the Dursley's who belittle me and abuse me. I'm overworked and underfed, if fed at all. I'm a punching bag to my cousin, a maid for my aunt, and a waste of space to my uncle. Though, I don't really see them as family. I did at one time because I didn't know better, but after years of trying to earn their approval or to be shown a lick of kindness from them and not receiving a single pound of kindness – I gave up. I gave up on trying to earn their approval or be shown any kindness, it wasn't worth my sanity. And now, I just go through the motions as I wait for the summer to end so I can go back to Hogwarts. Not like it's much better though. I'm going from Hero to Scapegoat and back again, over and over. It's tiring and unwanted. I don't want to be a Hero or famous, because if I wasn't of interest than I may of actually had a life with my parents. Also, I'd have real friends. Yeah, I don't feel like I have any real friends except Neville and Luna. Sad right? Especially when I'm part of the "Gryffindor Trio" and don't think the other two of the trio are my friends. Hermione is too persnickety about studying and classes and schedules, she's also extremely nosy and bossy. Then there is Ron. He was put so far under his brothers' shadows that he doesn't feel like he can make his own "thing" and because of that he's jealous of me because "little ole me" can get what he can't. So yeah, he's under my shadow too. Not like I can help that though, because I don't want all of the light that makes the shadow. Aunt Petunia is calling me, best run._

_Harry Potter_

He stretched as he stood from the chair, his hand was tense from all of that writing in the journal. He sighed as he relaxed his muscles and stood for a second before gathering the journal and writing supplies and hiding them in the floorboard under the bed.

"BOY!" His aunt called for the second time. If she had to call him three times, it meant no food and more chores.

He went to the door and called out, "Coming Aunt Petunia!" He checked the room one last time before skirting out and heading to see what she wanted.

~*~*~ Hours later ~*~*~

Harry sat on the edge of his bed, parchment dangling from limp fingers. The Order wasn't coming to pick him up for his birthday, nor were they coming afterwards. They were only going to come to get him so they could take him to the train for school.

He stared listlessly at the floor, black bangs casting dark shadows over his dull green eyes. He wasn't going to be able to escape the Dursley's early like his previous years. He was stuck in this hell hole until September.

A soft hoot distracted him from his dark thoughts. He glanced up at Hedwig to find her staring at him worriedly, "I'm fine Hedwig… I'll be fine…" He said, more trying to convince himself than his first friend.

He hid the letter before getting ready and into bed. He didn't fall asleep for a long while after he laid down.

~*~*~ Dream ~*~*~

_He walked up the stairs from the dungeons towards the Great Hall. The halls were quiet and vacant. He reached the Great Hall and hesitated before entering with confidence he didn't really have._

_Silence permeated the room when he opened the doors, the ten or so occupants stopping their conversation because of his presence._

_A man with bright red hair, golden wheat eyes, and tan skin took a step towards him. His expression was bleak as he spoke, "I'm sorry…"_

_He didn't reply to the man, just studied him._

_The red haired man tried again as he walked closer, "You know that I would never have… done that if I had known… Please Sal…"_

_Sal looked away from him and at the other occupants of the room, "But they knew." His gaze returned to the red haired man's eyes, "They knew Godric, and they did not stop you. I fault them, not you."_

_Godric relaxed when he heard the words and moved forward once more, embracing Sal gently. Then Godric whispered in Sal's ear, "Thank you for forgiving me, Salazar."_

He awoke with a start. His eyes snapped open and he was panting something fierce. _'What was that? Salazar? Godric? I was Salazar? As in the Founders? Or someone else? Why would I dream something like that?'_

These thoughts plagued his waking mind as he calmed himself down. Speculating answers and creating more questions. Solace didn't come.

~*~*~ A week later ~*~*~

_I have been having dreams lately. Dreams that seem more like memories, memories of the life of someone named Salazar. He has close ties to the man Godric. Salazar also knows a Helga and Rowena. I'm starting to think that I'm dreaming about the life of Salazar Slytherin from these facts, but I could be wrong. I want to know why I'm dreaming these memories. It makes no sense for me to be dreaming of being Salazar Slytherin when I'm not his _descendent_, right? I don't know anymore. I'm so confused and thoughts of it are plaguing me at all hours of the day and it's affecting how I work. I haven't been fed since the dreams started because I keep on messing up or spacing out. I don't know how much longer I can last without _food,_ or answers. But I'm more worried about starving than the answers right now… I'm tired so I best sleep, at least they are letting me do that._

_Harry Potter_

~*~*~ Two days later ~*~*~

Harry stared at the ceiling, uncomprehendingly. Everything they learned about Salazar Slytherin and the other Founders was wrong. Completely wrong. Voldemort was fighting for a cause that not even his hero believed in. But that wasn't what plagued his thoughts, it was the reflection he saw when Salazar looking into a mirror. It was like seeing himself except older and with a different hairstyle and no scar. Harry Potter and Salazar Slytherin looked exactly alike.

'_Am I Salazar Slytherin?'_ He asked himself, though he didn't know the answer.

~*~*~ Three days later ~*~*~

He was still having the dream-memories, but they didn't plague his thoughts as much as they did at first. Which meant less beatings and a little food, so things were improving a bit.

He was currently doing laundry in the basement. He allowed himself to be lost in thought as he transferred the clothes from the washer to the dryer.

First, Salazar's father was a bastard. He also happened to be worse than Uncle Vernon.

Second, Salazar and Godric were lovers. Who knew?

Third, Slytherin family magic was extremely intricate. Soul magic, blood magic, song magic, rituals, etc. It was insane.

He sighed as he put a dryer sheet in the dryer and started it. He paused for a second about to put the next load into the washer, when his hair was grabbed and his face was smashed into the dryer. He yelped and struggled against his attacker blindly and weakly.

"Stop struggling, boy!" His uncle's voice said gruffly.

He froze and was rewarded by being thrown to the floor. He chanced a look at his uncle and regretted it. His uncle wore a wide smirk and his eyes gleamed.

"Boy I'm finally able to have you alone to punish you like you need to be punished. You worthless waste of space." His uncle sneered at him as he snapped his leather belt for emphasis.

Harry was scared. The last time his uncle had his way with him, he ended up with three broken bones, severe bruising, and lacerations all over his back that took weeks to heal.

His uncle reached down and grabbed the back of his shirt, pulled it up and whipped his back. Harry yelped in surprise.

"Silence boy! Or I'll gag you!"

Harry's mouth snapped shut and he stayed put, knowing that listening to the orders was the best way to get free of the situation faster.

His uncle proceeded to whip him with the belt, buckle and all, over and over. Harry felt his skin shred because of the buckle, and the raw hide of the leather bruised the already bleeding and open wounds. His blood pooled beneath him steadily with each hit.

Harry was barely able to contain his screams of pain. He was only able to because of years of practice. Not that he was boasting or anything.

Finally the lashes stopped and Harry slumped on the ground.

"Who said I'm done with you boy?" His uncle said, furious, as he lashed at Harry with the belt for emphasis.

He let out a small whimper then.

"Did I say you could make a sound?" His uncle lashed at him with the belt again.

This time Harry didn't make a sound.

"Finally earning your keep now boy. Why don't you earn some more…" His uncle trailed off, but the tone of his voice set Harry on edge.

He was right to have been worried, because the next thing he knew his uncle was pulling Dudley's oversized pants down off his waist.

Harry immediately reacted and reached for his pants, his fingers grazed them just as pain from his back seared from the sudden movement making him freeze and his uncle laugh.

His uncle threw the pants off to the side and started to unbuckle his own pants, "Now stay still."

Harry had tears burning in his eyes. He was scared and in extreme pain. This wouldn't be the first time his uncle raped him, but he didn't want it to happen. The last three times had been extremely painful and he had been unable to walk or bend at the waist for three weeks. It didn't help his uncle had also used a metal scrubbing brush to "loosen him up" and "lubricate him".

Harry squeezed his eyes shut and wished, over and over, to be somewhere safe and away from his uncle. He wished he could be with Godric who was kind and loving, even if it was to Salazar. Salazar and him had been one in the dream-memory so it had felt like Godric was being kind and loving to him, and that's what he wanted.

He didn't realize his magic had reacted to his thoughts and thrown his uncle across the room and into the wall, the blast knocking him out. He also didn't realize when his magic transported him away from the Dursley's residence to Hogwarts. Specifically to Godric's personal rooms in Hogwarts.

The only thing he noticed is that his pain was ebbing away as unconsciousness took him.

~*~*~ The next day ~*~*~

He awoke slowly, feeling extremely sore and disoriented. He recognized the room he was in once he was awake enough. It was Godric's bedroom. _'What am I doing here?'_

He slowly sat up and froze as pain ricocheted throughout his body. Immediately remembering what had transpired the day before. His face lost what little color it had when he realized the wards would alert Dumbledore and the Order that he was gone. How was he going to explain that his uncle beat him and was about to rape him, so his magic decided to transport him to Hogwarts to the room of one of the Founders? At least, he assumed it was his magic. It was the most likely solution.

Though, he realized he didn't hurt as much as he thought he would, but he was just as naked as he thought he was.

He managed to stand, with a slight wobble, and walk to the bathroom. A plan already forming in his mind.

One, take a shower.

Two, assess wounds.

Three, dress the wounds and self.

Four, sustenance.

He nodded to himself and set about doing his plan.

~*~*~ Three hours later ~*~*~

So dressing your own wounds was a slightly difficult endeavor. As was telling a hyper-active house elf that you were in hiding and it was a secret from everyone, then have said elf get you food which turned out to be a buffet.

He relaxed in his chair in Godric's living room. Wait, his chair? No, Salazar's chair.

He rubbed his temples, exasperated. He didn't have much of a boundary between himself and Salazar anymore. It didn't help when the dream-memories were in first person.

He gazed silently at the fire he had Dobby make. He was tired. Emotionally, mentally, and physically. He needed a break from everything and maybe, maybe, holing up in Godric's old rooms was a good way to break away from everything.

He nodded to himself. Yeah, he'd stay in Godric's rooms until he was healed. And hopefully by then, he'd have a plan.

~*~*~ Two weeks later ~*~*~

He was going stir crazy. It didn't help that he had fully integrated with Salazar.

After a few more days of dream-memories, he realized that he and Salazar were one and the same. Salazar Senior had put himself, Salazar Junior, into a form of stasis and hid him away in the depths of Hogwarts. Then a thousand years later, Dumbledore found him and decided he'd use him as a replacement Harry Potter because the real Harry Potter had been a stillborn.

Dumbledore had sealed his memories and magic, then de-aged him and changed his appearance through blood adoption. The bastard.

And because he had made the clause "No Slytherin can kill another without equal retribution", he had sealed his fate as being the "boy-who-lived" all because no one (mainly Voldemort) knew that family rules constituted in their case. Instead, everyone believed Dumbledore's "love" crap. The idiots.

He was currently pacing while thinking of how he was going to apologize to Godric after he brought Godric back to life through one of his Puppets and soul magic.

Though he should probably meditate and see if he can find Godric's soul first.

He sighed and sat cross-legged on the floor before the fireplace. He had destroyed all of the blocks on himself and the illusions that hid his true appearance, not that it changed much but it felt good. Also, he made his hair grow, destroying the bird's nest he was generally associated with.

Bright green eyes closed as he set a steady even pace for his breathing. He concentrated on the crackling of the fire, the heat on his back, the cold on his front, and he concentrated on nothing. His heart beat slowed down and his head lulled forward as he felt the gentle pull that pulled him to his magic core.

From there he went outwards, following his bond with Godric. Their bond was intertwined silver and gold strands that shinned with luminance that could illuminate any dark space. Though the same could be said by any other of his bonds, except the brighter and more entwined the bond, the stronger the bod.

What he found on the end, was not what he was expecting.

He was expecting to find a wondering soul, or a dormant soul. Not a soul that was anchored to a body that happened to be traversing the very halls he also adorned.

Suddenly the man he had been observing from afar, turned and stared straight at him with glowing eyes of wheat. When their sight connected, he recoiled and was transported back into his body with a gasp and eyes snapping open suddenly.

Godric was alive.

~*~*~ In the Great Hall ~*~*~

All eyes looked at Godric when he suddenly turned around with a hand going straight for his hilt.

"Godric?" Helga asked softly. Her light brown eyes studied him closely. Her normally cheerful expression was marred with a frown.

"Is something wrong, Lord Gryffindor?" Minister Cornelius Fudge asked. He was sweating bullets, his handkerchief was drenched and almost split in two from his nervousness.

Godric's tense form relaxed and he turned back to them with a small smile, "It's nothing. My old mind is playing tricks on me, I'm afraid."

Helga and Rowena glancing at the other. They knew one thing. Godric was lying.

~*~*~ Back in Godric's rooms ~*~*~

He was pacing rapidly across the complete expanse of the room. Godric was alive. Godric was ALIVE. GODRIC was ALIVE.

He stopped suddenly.

Why hasn't he come to his rooms then? How long has he been alive? All this time? He found out a way to traverse time? He put himself in suspended animation that would awaken him when triggered correctly?

Salazar grabbed fistfuls of his hair and tugged as the thoughts ran across his mind in a marathon.

He was not going to find peace until he talked to Godric, but would Godric listen after most likely thinking he had died or ran away like a coward?

He dropped onto the sofa with a sigh. His fingers loosened their hold upon his hair and slid down his tresses before stopping on top of his legs.

He was a nervous wreck, acting like a teenage girl. All because he was scared, scared of Godric's rejection.

Why should he care if Godric rejected him? He was fine before Godric came.

_But I am a better man with him, because I love him._

He slowly stood and with a small wave of his hand, his clothes changed to his usual attire.

A white tank that dipped in a low V-shape in the front and on the back was the Slytherin family crest with a silver crown. The silver crown signified his status as Lord Slytherin. Laces adorned the V, but were loose and showed a lot of his pale white skin. His tank tucked into white form-fitting pants that adorned his legs and were tucked into knee high black Basilisk boots that had a slight heel.

He ran his fingers through his hair and with a spark of magic, his hair was knot free and put in a high ponytail. His bangs framed his face delicately and brought light to his aristocratic features, like his high cheekbones.

He moved silently to Godric's bedroom and looked at himself in the full length mirror.

He was now at his normal height of 6' 1" (6' 2" if you counted his boots' heels). Godric stood at a towering height of 6' 7".

He nodded at his reflection and swept out of the rooms, the fire going out with a soft "poof" as the door closed behind him.

~*~*~ In the Great Hall ~*~*~

Tables had been moved to form a square in the middle of the Hall. Drinks, snacks, and papers littered the tables.

Surrounding the table were the most influential people in the Wizarding World.

From the Ministry: Minister Fudge, Amelia Bones, Percy Weasely, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and two Aurors.

From the Order of the Phoenix: Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Arthur and Molly Weasely, Remus Lupin, and Mad-eye Moody.

From the Dark Faction: Lord Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, Fenrir Greyback, and Bellatrix Lestrange.

And on the last side were three of the four Founders of Hogwarts.

Off to the side, all of the Weasely children, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood sat silently.

Negotiations had been going on for the past few weeks, things had heightened when Harry Potter had disappeared.

Right now everyone was at a standstill. The newest contract had just been torn to shreds, literally and figuratively.

The contracts had ranged from arranged marriage to execution to imprisionment to banishment, along with everything in between. And all of revolved around Harry Potter.

The only thing all sides could, relatively, agree on is that with whatever contract was made the Dark Faction would be liberated of all previous crimes, would not resort to violence, and those classified as Dark Beings (otherwise known as Dark Creatures) would be given new and improved contracts between themselves and wizards.

The thing that couldn't be agreed on is what the Light Faction and the Ministry would have to do in return. They all seemed as though they were fine just scapegoating Harry Potter, unless you were Remus Lupin, Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, or Minerva McGonagall.

Lord Voldemort glared at Albus Dumbledore. "Since you seem to be the _voice_ of _Harry Potter_, what does he want?"

"My boy, he just wants the war to end, like we all do, and doesn't care how." Albus said with an air of wisdom and twinkling eyes.

Remus growled, "That doesn't mean we have to marry him off or enslave him or kill him!" Moody was keeping an hand on Remus' shoulder to keep him from getting physical with Albus. Remus' wolf was in the forefront wanting to protect their cub from the Headmaster.

Amelia Bones nodded, "I agree and frankly I don't see why he has to be included in any clause despite his history with… Lord Voldemort." Everyone except Luna Lovegood, Albus Dumbledore, the three Founders, and the Dark Faction flinched.

The ones who knew of the prophecy shifted uncomfortably in their seats, except Albus, Luna, and Voldemort. Though Albus did loose a little of the twinkle in his eyes.

Amelia's eyes narrowed as they scanned the table having noticed, "Is there something that we haven't been told?"

Rowena Ravenclaw chimed in softly, "Negotiations cannot happen if all parties do not have all of the required information."

Interrupting this silence was a bang as the doors to the Great Hall slammed open suddenly.

Everyone was up and had their wands pointed at the doors, except the Founders. Godric had his sword unsheathed and was in front of Helga and Rowena protectively.

Salazar strode into the room with the grace of a panther, silent and deadly. He raised a sculpted eyebrow at them.

"Is this how I am to be greeted after being away for a thousand years? Pity. I was expecting at least a goblet of mead." He said to the tense, silent room.

A clang resounded throughout the room, causing all eyes to turn to Godric. He stood with wide eyes, jaw dropped, and an empty hand. His sword now gracing the floor.

"Please do close your mouth sometime, Gryffindor, I believe I can speak for all when I say we don't want to see whatever is in that cavity that we would call a mouth."

Godric's mouth shut with a sharp click of teeth, but he otherwise remained frozen.

Helga and Rowena had grabbed each other to hold themselves up, just as shocked as Godric.

Everyone else was just wary and confused at the Founder's reactions.

However the first one to act, was not any of the people at the main table. It was Luna Lovegood.

She stood and skipped over to Salazar/Harry with a dreamy look and smile on her face, ignoring the tense, loud whispers of "Luna!" "Luna stop!" "What are you doing?" from the other Hogwart's students.

She stopped a few feet away from Salazar who had a raised eyebrow in question and amusement in his emerald eyes.

"The wrackspurts said that you were cocooning and would reappear as a butterfly. The dragon tickler won't reject you and the owl is seeing the wrong of her ways. The dandelion stands at your defense with a bright mane." She said her voice lilting in a way that matched her dreamy look.

The corners of his lips turned up slightly, "Thank you, Luna." He took the last few steps between them and leaned down, pecking her forehead softly. "Your message from the wrackspurts lighten my racing mind."

She smiled at him, "Your welcome, Sally."

Before he could reply, Godric finally roused himself, "That's my nickname for him!"

Salazar/Harry turned and gave Godric a bland look, "Really? That's the first thing you say? To fight for the honor of my nickname?"

Godric never replied because in a flash of flame he was right in front of Salazar/Harry and pulling him into a rib-crushing hug.

Salazar/Harry froze for a few seconds before relaxing and wrapping his arms around Godric, gripping the fabric of Godrics clothes almost to the point of ripping them. His head fell forward to rest on Godric's shoulder.

"_I missed you…" _Salazar/Harry whispered in their tongue of old that was never passed down to be one of the known languages of the current day.

"_And I you…"_ Godric said back, somehow managing to make his grip tighter without hurting Salazar/Harry.


End file.
